ACE probing corruption in BIEK on multiple levels

Final report is expected to be completed by month end


Yusra Salim July 12, 2017
PHOTO: AFP

KARACHI: Allegations of the tampering of results, corruption and facilitating wrong means in examination continue to haunt the Board of Intermediate Education Karachi's (BIEK) officials as the anti-corruption body is not letting the matter go off easily.

In a recent development, the Anti-Corruption Establishment (ACE), which is investigating the alleged corruption in BIEK since the last one year, has asked the BIEK officials for financial records, documents and letters pertaining to the procurement of furniture and installation of a lift in the board office building.

ACE is suspecting that the money allocated for the furniture and lift in the board office has either been used in other expenditures or not been used at all.

Cheating continues unabated in BIEK annual exams

The BIEK head office was raided by ACE in August, 2016 over complaints of the tampering of results, while in 2015 the former BIEK controller of examinations, Imran Khan Chishti, was accused of corruption in BIEK and the Mirpurkhas board.

"They [ACE] have been asking for several documents and we have always cooperated with them as we also want to hold the [corrupt] officials accountable," BIEK Chairperson Prof Inam Ahmed told The Express Tribune.

Prof Ahmed further informed that the ACE has asked for the students' files and results of the annual examinations of 2015 and 2016. It [the investigation] affects the operations in the board, but we will continue to cooperate as penalising corrupt elements is good for the board in the long run, Ahmed said.

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ACE had asked for the answer copies of the students whose records were collected from the laptop of a clerk who had admitted taking money from the students to tamper with their results. ACE had found strong evidence of manipulation in the results of 94 students. Their results were withheld when general results were announced on September 5, 2016, after a delay of three weeks because of the raid.

Since August, 2016, to date, BIEK has handed over more than 8,000 answer copies to ACE to help in investigation but the probe continues.

ACE Chairperson Ghulam Qadir Thebo said it has taken long to conclude the investigations since many other factors came up which needed further investigation. "FIRs have also been lodged against many officials and clerks who were found guilty in the tampering of results and corruption in the examinations," he said.

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Thebo added that the investigation reports have been sent to the concerned authorities time and again. "Many of the clerks and officials at the BIEK have been replaced during this time but we are trying to wind up the case with our final report soon," he said, adding that the report is expected to be completed by the end of this month.

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